Capital Spirit

Now More Than Ever May 2, 2011

There are very few things more heart-breaking than seeing your favorite hockey team lose the first two games of a playoff series, at home.

There are very few things more nerve-wracking than knowing you might have just seen your last live hockey game of the season.

And there are few things more dispiriting than realizing that the game was just that close.

If the Capitals are trying to work on their “heroic come from behind” story line, then they’ve certainly dug themselves the requisite hole. Now would be a good time to stop digging; Game 3 is Tuesday night. And I doubt I have to remind a shell-shocked Caps Nation that an 0-3 hole is something the Capitals franchise has never, ever recovered from.

And yet. And yet.

This is a Capitals team that has known no small amount of adversity this season. When the Caps lost eight in a row in December, they used that as the starting point to chart a new course for future success. This team has been down before, and it has come back. I predicted a seven game Capitals victory, and damn it all, I stand by that. Now more than ever.

If I’m wrong, fine. Just make sure you put some extra Cool Whip on the humble pie.

But if any Capitals team can come back from an 0-2 deficit, I believe this team would be it.

And so, Caps Nation, even though it looks improbable, now more than ever, I have to ask…Do You Believe?

I know the math; I am fully aware that the Capitals are going to have to win 4 out of 5, with at least two of those on the road. But I can’t accept, and won’t concede that the season is already over. It’s not over ’til the handshake line, and these Capitals are not in a hurry to be on the wrong end of that. They’ll find a way. They’ve done it before, and they can do it again. How long were the Capitals trailing Tampa Bay in the standings this year? They found a way to finish ahead of the Bolts before, and they can do it again when it counts.

Caps Nation, now more than ever, I have to ask…Do You Believe?

If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time, and certainly won’t be the last. But I’m not giving up on this season. All of us, players and fans alike, have been through too much in the past six months and change to just write it all off because of a couple of heartbreakingly close losses.

The players aren’t about to quit on their fans; we, the fans, shouldn’t be about to quit on our players.

Caps Nation, now more than ever, I have to ask…Do You Believe?

Mother Teresa once said, “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.” What if the same can be said for all of us? What if God is trusting us all, as a franchise–from the owner’s box to the cheap seats–to respond to this moment with faith, hope, and love?

Caps Nation, now more than ever, I have to ask…Do You Believe?

A thought:

Thorns and stings
And those such things
Just make stronger
Our angel wings.
~Terri Guillemets

Is this the adversity that we need, to find the wings to soar? Caps Nation, now more than ever, I have to ask…Do You Believe?

I’m not giving up on this team. And I don’t think any of us should. I honestly think we’re just about to find out how good this team really is. It’s not over, not by a long shot.

The way ahead is difficult, yes. We may yet have our hearts broken again, yes. It may take a very big leap of faith for us to Believe, yes. And that leap does come without a net, yes.

But this is our moment. This is the time when we all, every single one of us, have to be that reservoir of spiritual strength that our team needs us to be. This, right now, is the time when our Belief matters most of all.